Shopping cart

[57] ABSTRACT

A high-basket shopping cart for counter-level discharge is arranged for basket-telescoping storage with similar carts by providing a control handle for the cart which is at a convenient height when the cart is used for its intended purpose and which moves to an unobstructing position when the baskets telescope for purposes of storage.

Claims, 7 Drawing Figures

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Patented Feb. 29, 1972

3,645,554

Sheets-Sheet 1

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driven tors: Gene JB. Von Stein Aorman 77. Tour^c?

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Patented Feb. 29, 1972

3,645,554

Sheets-Sheet 2

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Patented Feb. 29, 1972

3,645,554

Sheets-Sheet 3

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Patented Feb. 29, 1972

3,645,554

Sheets-Sheet 4

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Gene JB.

aPbrm'aTi Jd. Young/

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Patented Feb. 29, 1972

3,645,554

Sheets-Sheet 5

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Patented Feb. 29, 1972

3,645,554

Sheets-Sheet 6

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3,645,554

SHOPPING CART

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The use of shopping carts with telescoping baskets is well known in supermarkets. In prior devices the baskets of such carts were relatively low, i.e., a substantial portion of the basket was located below normal level of a checkout counter. The baskets in such prior devices had a forwardly tapering shape with both the upper and lower edges, or surfaces, of the j basket being convergingly inclined in a direction extending forwardly of the rear of the cart to which a control handle was rigidly secured as the uppermost portion of the basket. By such an arrangement, the reduced forward end of each basket easily passed below the handle of a previous cart to permit ] telescoping of the front end of the basket on a cart through the movable rear end wall of the basket on the next preceding cart.

Recently it has been desirable to locate the basket of a shopping cart at a relatively high level, so as to facilitate discharge of the basket's contents directly onto the checkout counter. In such high-basket carts, the lower wall of the basket preferably is substantially horizontal and located substantially at or slightly higher than the normal height of the checkout counter. With such high-basket carts the control handle has preferably been located at a level intermediate the upper and lower limits of height of the basket. Both said features of the basket's substantially horizontal lower wall and the location of the control handle interfere with the telescoping of baskets as heretofore achieved with low-basket carts. Thus, in order to achieve telescoping storage of carts, high-basket carts have turned to the expedient of the basket itself swinging in a range of about 90° from a substantially horizontal position to a substantially vertical position, which permits the lower cart sections and the bottoms of the baskets to nest or telescope. While the expedient functions, it has problems associated with it, including problems accompanying the requirement that the basket must be swung to and maintained in a horizontal position to permit usage of the cart.

The instant invention is directed to a high-basket cart which permits of telescoping or nesting of baskets similar to that performed by low-basket carts and without requiring the baskets to move to an inoperative upright position from which they must be returned in order to be operative.

One object of the present invention is to provide a highbasket cart wherein the basket is permitted to move within a small range to overcome the normal substantially horizontal attitude of the lower wall of the basket, thus permitting endwise telescoping of the baskets of such carts.

Another object of this invention is to provide a high-basket cart with a control handle that is conveniently located rearwardly of the rear end of the basket between the uppermost and lowermost extents of the basket, and which control handle is arranged to be automatically moved to an out-of-the-way position when the baskets of a rearwardly adjacent cart is caused to telescope with the basket of the cart.

Still another object of this invention is to provide means which automatically connect the movable control handle for a basket cart in operative relation with the basket cart when the telescoping relationship between carts has been discontinued.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a high-basket cart embodying the features of this invention, and illustrating generally the relationship of the basket to a checkout counter in a supermarket or the like;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevational view showing in full lines the rear end of the basket of the cart as in FIG. 1, and illustrating in broken lines the forward end of the basket of a rearwardly adjacent cart as it moves the inclined locking link for the handle means of the forward basket from its normal position shown in full lines to a release position shown in broken lines;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view taken substantially on line 3—3 of FIG. 2, looking rearwardly toward the rear upright wall of the basket, and illustrating the movable baby seat plate raised to its leg-aperture-blocking position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view taken substantially on line 4—4 of FIG. 2, looking forwardly toward the forwardly located wall of the baby seat compartment of the cart’s basket;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the position of portions of two baskets after the forward end of the rearmost basket has telescoped into the forward one of the two baskets, and showing how the forward portion of the rearmost basket is raised, and how the movable baby seat compartment portion of the basket and the control handle of the forward basket are raised, by such telescoping action;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view looking downwardly into and slightly rearwardly of the baby seat compartment of the cart’s basket as seen in full lines in FIG. 2, this FIG. 6 being for purposes of clearly illustrating the relationship of the various parts; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view taken substantially on line 7—7 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings, the high-basket cart is generally designated at 10 and includes a support frame 12 of tubular metal construction supported on forward and rearward parts of wheels, or casters, 14 and 16. The frame 12 is shaped to provide a lower shelf support frame 18 that supports a generally horizontal wire shelf 18α, an intermediate-shelf support frame means 19, and an upper basket support frame 20 that are maintained in spaced relation by a pair of uprights 22 and 24. An intermediate shelf 25 is supported upon frame means 19 that includes the lower upright sections of uprights 22 and 24 and downturned legs 26α and 27α of angle-shaped tubing parts 26 and 27 whose horizontal runs are illustrated in FIG. 1. The basket support frame 20 is defined in part by tubing parts which secure to uprights 23 and 24, the latter uprights being located generally to one lateral side of the support frame 12, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Referring to the basket support frame 20, the same includes I three transverse tubular elements 30,31, and 32, from front to rear, and side tubular elements 33 and 34, all appropriately secured together by welding or the like to provide a rigid, substantially horizontal shelf. As shown, the two transverse tubular elements 31 and 32 may be extensions bent respectively ’ from uprights 23 and 24, and the side tubular elements 33 and 34 may be legs of a U-shaped member whose bight serves as transverse elements 30.

A basket, generally 40, is supported and retained on basket support frame 20. The basket, as seen in FIG. 1, includes a pair of spaced upright side walls 42 which incline toward each other from the maximum spacing at the rear of the basket to minimum spacing at the front end of the basket, a front upright end wall 44, a rear upright end wall 46, an intermediate upright wall 47 and a bottom 48. The various wall are shown to be foraminous, being preferably defined by grids of welded wires as is well-known in the art. However, it will be understood that the walls may be of different form where desired except where structural requirements, as hereinafter set out, require provision of elements that serve the function of wirelike parts.

Referring to the basket 40, the side wall 42 thereof is defined by longitudinally extending wires 42α welded at points of intersection with the legs 42b of U-shaped transverse wires whose bights serve as elements 48b, part of the wire grid form75

3,645,554 ing the bottom of the basket. A plurality of longitudinally extending wires 48α lie on and are welded to the upper or inner side of the bights 48b.

The front upright end wall 44 is of greater width than the spacing of sides 42 and is defined by a rectangular peripheral frame having upper and lower horizontal elements 44α and 44b, a third horizontal wire 44c closer to the top than to the bottom, heavy end wires 44d and a large plurality of upright intermediate wires 44e. The front end wall 44 is actually a gate that may be lowered as illustrated in broken lines in FIG. 1, by pivoting about bottom wire 44b, to define a ramp between the basket 40 and the top T of a counter, permitting discharge of the contents of basket 40 through the front end onto a counter top. A simple retainer for selectively holding end wall 44 in upright position as in FIG. 1 or releasing same is provided by basket outer wires as hereinafter described.

The basket 40 also provides a baby seat compartment, generally C, that corresponds generally with baby seat compartments defined in low-basket carts of the prior art wherein the baby faces rearwardly with its legs protruding outwardly through the rearmost wall of the basket. The baby seat compartment here is defined by rear upright end wall 46 with leg holes, intermediate upright wall 47 serving as the back support for child, and leg closure flap 50 that when lowered, as in FIGS. 2 and 6, serves as a seat for the child, and when raised as in FIG. 3 serves to close off the leg holes and to define a subsection of the basket for holding articles in the baby seat compartment.

FIG. 3 shows the end wall 46 as being defined in part by heavy wires one of which is a generally U-shaped wire defining spaced legs 46α and bight 46b, an inwardly extending Ushaped upper loop 46c at the upper end of each leg 46α, a second upright leg 46d space inwardly of leg 46α and horizontal cross wires 46e secured to legs 46α and 46d below the loops 46c. The portion of end wall 46 that functionally serves to confine goods in the baby seat compartment C extends vertically between bight 46b and the uppermost one of the cross wires 46e. The wall 46 also includes three spaced pairs of upright wires &lt; „, that extends vertically from below bight 46b to the upper cross wire 46e. The spacing of said U-shaped wires is such as to define two spaced leg holes 46g which straddle the centermost one of said U-shaped wires. At each lower comer of wall 46

46f each pair being the legs of a U-shaped wire 40 retainer 54d when the gate 44 is in closed position. The hook

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OIIC U1 SdlU niivc. ni -- --- « there is an angle shaped wire 46/t whose long leg is parallel to pennit unlatching ofthe and spaced above bight 46b, and whose free lateral end con- ^J ‘^L nects to the inside of leg 46α. The short leg of 46ft is located in space 46g and connects to the upperside of bight 46b.

The flap 50 is centered and attached to bight 46b between the points of connection of the short legs of the two angle wires 46ft to bight 46b. Thus, the free ends of the U-shaped periphery wire 50α of leg closure flap 50 are looped at 50b to provide pivot loops about bight 46b that accommodate movement of leg closure flap 50 between the position of FIGS. 6 and 3. The closure flap 50, as is known in the art, may include a plastic sheet member 50c with integral peripherally located rings, or sleeves, 50J thereon for receiving therethrough the periphery wire 50α and also supplemental cross wire 50e. A central tab 50/ on member 50c extends to a position for en- ₆₀gagement and cooperation with a cross wire, bight 46b, of the wall 46.

FIG. 4 shows the upright intermediate wall 47 as formed by a U-shaped peripheral wire providing spaced legs 47α and a bight 47b, a horizontal cross wire 47c, a j' ’— termediate lighter wires 47d welded at their lower end to bight 47b and looped at 47e at their upper ends to curl around the forward side of cross wire 47c, and a pair of angle shaped heavy wires 47/. The angle shaped wires 47/each have a long । „_______ . : ’ · ^j secured at its free end to bight 47b. The short leg of angle wire 47/ secures to the upper free end of leg 47α and extends laterally outwardly of leg 47α to provide a loop connection with uppermost longitudinal wire 42α that includes section

Heavy wires *»//. ι nc <uigic suup.u wuva ~ ~ ------— - .... -—. l . ,_r j \ leg located inwardly adjacent and parallel to leg 47α and 70 late the cart by forces applied thereto in both push (forward) ® _ r___i_ : J ~..ll ί »<-»<-> 1 z4 rerfinnc A mni int ΓΛΓ tnf* control Π 3.Π·

47g extending later^ly outwardly of leg 47α and above said 75 with a first leg 62b of an angled bend that turns taterally out10 uppermost wire 42α, a rearwardly extending run 47ft and a hook-shaped inwardly extending offset 471 that extends first below said wire 42α and then inwardly thereof, as best seen in

FIGS. 2 and 4, with the terminus running back in the direction toward section 47g and spaced from 47Λ.

The lower ends of upright walls 46 and 47 are linked together to move in unison and to lie substantially flat when in the position of FIG. 5 and to be properly spaced to define the baby seat compartment C when in the position of FIGS. 2 and 6. Such links are shown at 52 with loop 52α at one end of link 52 encircling the long leg of angle wire 46Λ between upright wires 46α and 46J, and with loop 52b at the other end of link 52 encircling bight 47b between upright wires 47α and the long leg of 47/.

In accord with the invention herein, the basket 40 is provided with additional frame structure, with a control handle connected thereto, and with latching means that will now be described.

Considering first the forward end of the basket 40, a pair of spaced elongated heavy outer wires 54 positioned inwardly of basket sides 42, as seen in FIG. 4, extend longitudinally along the outside of the bottom 48 of basket 40 from a position just overlying the front transverse wire 30 to the forward end of the basket where the wires are bent upwardly as seen in full lines in FIG. 1 and in broken lines as seen in FIG. 5. The wires 54 define cam engaging rail portions 54α on the underside of bottom 48 and then turn upwardly to form elongated retainer 54b, rear-turned abutment 54c, and upper open-ended 30 retainer 54d with intumed hook end 54c. The cam wires 54 are welded to the transverse wires 48b of the bottom and are so positioned that at their forward end the rear-turned abutment 54c is adjacent and welded to the inner side of the forwardmost leg 42b of side 42. For purposes of rigidity the three 35 forwardmost U-shaped wires that provide legs 42b and 48b are of heavier wire, as seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5. The retainer portion 54b is spaced from lower portion of leg 42b to provide an elongated slideway in which cross peripheral wire 44b is located. The intermediate cross wire 44c enters open-topped end 54e prevents inadvertent unlatching of the gate 44, since pressure of the contents of the basket 40 forces gate 44 forwardly. The length of slideway defined by retainer 54b is sufficient to permit wire 44c to clear the upper end of wires 54 to

Toward the rear end of the basket, two heavy outer wires are provided on the basket. The first is a rearwardly inclined U-shaped wire 56 at the rear end of the basket providing upright legs 56α welded to longitudinal side wires 42α and a ⁵⁰ pivot bight 56b welded to the upper side of longitudinal side wires 48α. The upper ends of legs 56α are flattened to provide for a rigid screw connection with the upper leg of loop 46c as seen in FIG. 3. The second outer wire 58 has a more complex U-shape including rearwardly inclined upright legs 58α welded to side wires 42α and bight 58b welded to the underside of bottom wires 48α. The bight 58b is located near the rear terminal ends of outer cam wires 54 as seen in FIG. 2. The legs 58α are inclined rearwardly at a greater acute angle to horizontal than legs 56α, so that the wires tend to converge at their upper ends. However each leg 58α bends adjacent its upper end to define rearwardly extending segment 58c which passes over and rearwardly of the upper end of leg 56α and ___________ then bends to define an upright abutment section 58d which plurality of upright in- 65 has a forwardly turned terminal 58c for rigid connection by welding to the rear of upright leg 56α.

A horizontal barlike control handle 60 is provided rearwardly of the cart and all portions of the basket. The handle 60 must have the characteristic of being graspable to manipu55 and pul! (rearward) directions. A mount for the control handle is provided by a generally U-shaped wire member 62 • which is shaped to provide the following segments: a flattened terminal flange 62α (adjacent one end of handle 60) merging

3,645,554 most forward comer of the basket is then at a level below the normal height of handle 60. Engagement of abutment elements 62/ and 58d, exterior of the basket, and of latch abutment elements 66d and 46/inwardly of basket compartment C 5 operate to transmit, respectively, push and pull forces from the handle 60 to basket 40.

In storing a pair of carts with their baskets telescoped, FIG. 2 shows approach of a rearward basket toward a forward basket. The uppermost forward end of the rear basket 40, 10 shown as element 44α of the front gate 44, passes under handle 60 as seen in FIG. 2. The upper cross wire 44α engages the pair of legs 66α of link means 66 and operates to tend to pivot same about the axis of 62/, thereby effecting release of lug element 66d from latching relation with element 46/. Further for15 ward movement is illustrated by broken lines in FIG. 2 which shows the bight 666 camming the seat flap 50 from its normal full-line position to a raised, broken-line position.

With the handle 60 released from its lowered, latched position, further entry of the forward end of the basket causes han²⁰ die 60 and upright walls 46 and 47 to rise substantially to the position seen in FIG. 5. At the same time the lower side of basket 40 engages pivot bight 566 which serves as a cam, and cam rails 54α ride up over bight 566 raising the forward end of the rearmost basket slightly about the axis of its pivot bight ^2a 566, to move the basket bottom 48 from a substantially horizontal attitude as in FIG. 1 to the inclined attitude seen in broken lines in FIG. 5. During the telescoping of baskets 40, as illustrated in FIG. 5, a transverse portion of wire 62, such as 62c or 62/ is cammed upwardly by riding above the uppermost wire 42α on the rearward basket, and the degree of such raising may be selected depending upon which portion of wire 62 is selected to be engaged by the rearward basket.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show that in normal position the lower ends , 5 of walls 46 and 47 clear the upper surface of basket bottom 48 ³ so that there is no interference between members including links 52 and loops 526. FIG. 5 shows that with the walls 46 and 47 raised, the elongated nature of loop connection 476 and 47i of wall 47 cooperating with upper longitudinal wire 42α of 40 basket side wall 42 provides a lost motion connection which accommodates the stacking, or layering, of the various wall members 46, 47 and 50 which are forced into elevated position by the upper inclined edge of upper wires 42α of the basket sides 42.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention and, therefore, it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such changes 50 and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.